Holiday request forms

The unpredictability of staff absences can make it a challenging HR task — and a costly one too.

According to recent data (2023) from the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI), the average Australian worker takes around six days off work per year due to unscheduled absences, meaning unplanned days off work, and this is considered the average for unscheduled absences across the country. 

As an employer, it is imperative that you consider a range of absence management methods. It is important to seek a balance between supporting your employees' wellbeing and understanding how it’s affecting your business — as well as managing it effectively.

Types of employee absence

Not all employee absence is the same. The reasons your staff take time off can fall into three broad groups:

1. Authorised absence includes annual, family and education leave. It’s usually managed through the employment contract.

2. Short-term sickness and long-term sickness are often the primary concern of absence management policies, with ‘chucking a sickie’ costing Australian businesses $33 billion a year. It is often referred to as "absenteeism" when done frequently. 

3. Unauthorised absences includes persistent lateness that costs working time. It’s usually managed as an employee conduct issue.

What is a holiday request form?

A holiday request form is a template where an employee fills out details of their plans for holiday time. A line manager will then review the request and clear or deny it.

After that, you can file the details into your personnel database and keep a record of all your staff members’ time off.

There are a few options in terms of format. Your business can choose to create printable holiday request forms, or, for smaller businesses, a staff holiday planner wall chart might be a better option, as you can easily track when each employee is on holiday. The easiest option, however, is to rely on modern HR software.

For example, the BrightHR staff holiday planner at BrightHR that removes the need for paper forms and spreadsheets. It allows you to:

• Pull up automatic staff holiday entitlement information — you’ll know it’s accurate right away.

• Automated resolutions for employees, even based on awkward start dates.

• Automatic refresh for when your new holiday year begins.

• Organise mandatory or holiday leave quickly and efficiently.

• Stop holiday clashes amongst your workforce.

• Monitor your team’s absences in one easy-to-use interface.

You should aim to measure this, so you have a decent understanding of what’s going on within your business.

By doing so, you can understand the extent and cause of absence issues. Useful measurements include the:

• Lost time rate: This is the percentage of possible working time lost to absence.

• Frequency rate: The average number of absence periods per employee.

• Bradford Factor: A method of identifying persistent short-term absence for individuals.

Creating an absence policy

A clear absence management policy helps employees understand their sickness absence rights and responsibilities.

Rules on sick leave and pay form part of your employment terms and conditions, so you’re legally obliged to inform employees about them. Over 90% of Australian organisations have an absence policy.

You can also use an absence policy to support your absence goals and your workplace culture. Policies often include:

• Rules for notifying managers about absence, when self-certificate forms and fit notes are needed, and return-to-work interviews.

• How you’ll support employees to return to work through adjustments.

• What you expect from employees during severe weather and other major events.

Managing absence

When employees know what you expect from them, it’s easier for you to keep track of their absences.

There are three things to keep in mind:

1. Short-term absence: Return-to-work interviews can help identify problems early. Disciplinary procedures are effective for unacceptable absence. Further methods utilise absence data to trigger attendance reviews and pay restrictions.

2. Long-term absence: A few long-term absences can easily account for a large proportion of total absence. That’s why it’s useful to have a formal return-to-work strategy, which can rehabilitate workers to return faster. Your strategy might include regular reviews with sick employees, planning workplace adjustments, and involving occupational health professionals.

3. Absence management and the law: Your approach should comply with relevant laws including the Fair Work Act 2009 and the National Employment Standards (NES). If an employee becomes disabled, you might need to make reasonable workplace adjustments so you don’t discriminate against them.

Sample holiday request form

These are quite simple to create — you can follow the structure below or adapt it to suit your business’ requirements.

For this holiday request form example, you can add your business letterhead to the form and other details as you see fit.

*Holiday request form templates guide*

Title: Holiday Request Form

Please complete this form and hand it to your line manager, who will then authorise your holiday leave.

You should not book your holiday time until this form has received the correct authorisation and processing to personnel files.

Employee Name:

Date of Request:

First Date of Holiday:

Last Day & Date of Holiday:

Number of Working Days:

Total Number of Days:

Employee Signature and Date:

Authorised By and Date:

*Template end*

For the above, you can add this into a table if you wish to section out each area. You can also use software such as Excel to make a basic form structure.

How BrightHR can help

For more templates like these, our comprehensive HR document library is stocked with guides for all policies, procedures, and contracts, as well as HR opinions on the latest absence management issues.

Plus, for expert support with this matter or any employment-related concerns, our 24/7 HR and employment relations advice service is at your disposal.

Book your free product demo today or get in touch at 1 300 029 198.